The cave was easy to find, though not as big as Ranear described.  Still, it would do for the night even if it would be tight quarters.  Boston and Katie set up on one side.  Lockhart and Captain Decker took the other.  The rest laid out somewhere in the middle when they were not on watch.

            The fire was just outside the cave, but it was positioned so it was hard to see from down below.  A man might walk right beneath their position and never know anyone was up there.  Because of this, Captain Decker called it a good defensive position.

            “But do we need to worry about that?” Alexis asked.  “There is no evidence of ghouls and we haven’t seen the bokarus since Iris.”  She was trying to shrug off the bad feelings they had all day.

            “No telling what is out there,” Lockhart said.  He looked up at the night sky and wondered.  His Men in black were practiced at dealing with alien threats.  They were not designed to fight nightmares.  “Lincoln and Alexis first watch.”

            “Wouldn’t one person be enough?”  Lincoln wondered.

            “I want two to watch and keep each other awake,” Lockhart responded.  “Decker and I will take second watch.  Mingus, would you mind third watch with your son?”  Mingus did not mind.  “Boston and Katie in the morning.  Get some sleep.”

###

            In the wee hours of the morning, Lockhart woke up in the nursing home, still sitting in his wheelchair.  The nurses had not even bothered putting him to bed.  He wiped the bit of drool that fell from his mouth and looked out the window at the night sky.  It looked the same as it looked in his dream.  He let out one small laugh before he felt like crying.  Being young again and adventuring in Avalon was a nice dream, but only a dream.

            Lockhart tried to push himself closer to the window, but his old arms were too spindly and frail.  He did cry a little because he was so alone.  He was in Virginia and his children were all in Michigan.  They never came to see him in any case.  His ex-wife saw to that.  She was in a retirement community in Florida spending the last of his money.  Even the people from the office never came by, not even Boston.  He was alone.  He wanted to die.

###

            “I didn’t ask to be young again,” Lincoln yelled and did that annoying thing of raising his hands like he was oh, so innocent..  “I was happy like we were.”

            “I wasn’t,” Alexis responded with that inevitable curl of her lip.

            “Okay.  I got that impression.  But I was comfortable.”

            “God knows I wouldn’t want to shake you out of your comfort zone.”

            “Alexis.”  Lincoln reached out but Alexis pulled away.

            “Don’t touch me,” she said.  “Right now I hate you.”  She never pulled her punches and never said she was sorry.

            “I despise you.”  He always had to one-up her.

###

            Boston closed the door to the conference room.  She was in the heart of the building and there was no way out for her.  The alien virus had gotten loose.  It affected the minds of every male on duty and Boston was scared senseless.  She was afraid they would find her.  She heard the door.

            “Boston.”  The call was sweet and sickly.

            Boston scooted under the table and heard the men come in.  They were all men she knew, young and old.

            “Boston.

            She tried to make herself small.

            “Here.”  One of the young ones was behind her and leaned over to look under the table.  She was caught.  She tried to run, but they stopped her.  They tore her clothes off.  She was going to be gang raped.  The infected men were laughing about it, but she was screaming.

###

            Captain Decker was tied with his hands behind his back.  His ankles were tied together and he was suspended upside-down from one of the towers of the Brooklyn Bridge.  Lieutenant Harper was slowly cutting the man’s rope.

            “What are you doing?”  The panic was in Decker’s voice.  He was not the best with heights, though he went through parachute training when he qualified as a Marine Ranger.

            “I can’t help it,” Harper called down to him.  “I have no control over my hands.”  Her voice sounded more fearful.  She saw him suspended from the edge of a cliff.  Every time she cut a strand, he dropped a little.  She was going to murder the man and she couldn’t stop herself.  “Help me, please.”  She cried out, but she had no control.  Everything was out of her control except her tears.

            Decker screamed at her.  “Let me up.  I’m going to kill you.  Let me up.”  He looked down and had to hold onto his stomach and his bladder.

###

            Doctor Procter came awake, but he was groggy.  Something tugged at his mind, and for a change it was not the darkness.  He imagined all sorts of frightening scenarios, but they all paled when compared to the darkness so they could find no foothold in his dreams.  He squinted.

            Mingus and his son were sitting side by side, staring off into the wilderness.  Doctor Procter could not tell from his angle, but he guessed they were frozen in place seeing nothing.  There was a figure beside them.  It was human shaped, but the Doctor guessed it was not human because it was dark from head to foot despite standing squarely in the firelight.

            There were noises behind.  Doctor Procter sat up a little and turned his head to look.  The humans were wailing, crying, shouting nonsense at each other and appeared to be in pain.  He checked.  He did not care about that.  He did not hate the humans, but somehow he could not bring himself to care about them either.  It was the darkness, he knew.  Soon it would overtake him completely.

            He turned again to observe the person hiding in the night.  He guessed it was the bogy man.  He heard they hid in closets and under beds to work their terrible work.  They hid because they had to be solid to work and feed on the fear.  That, of course, made them vulnerable, but as long as the sleepers remained unaware of their presence, they could feast. 

            Doctor Procter thought about that.  He was no stranger to fear, but he never felt attracted to it before.  He used to fear things like bogys.  Now, he felt he understood a little.  Fear, hate and anguish were very powerful emotions and very nourishing in a way.  “No.”  He whispered that out loud through cracked lips and with a gravelly voice.  The bogy ignored him.  Things were coming to a head.

            Doctor Procter turned his head again to watch.  He saw Captain Decker and Lieutenant Harper grab their rifles.  Lockhart also grabbed his shotgun.  Boston screamed, “Kill me, kill me!”  Lincoln and Alexis had each other by the throat.  The humans were all going to kill each other, and something of the Doctor rose up.

            “No!”  The Doctor shouted.  He tore off his glove and extended his blackened hand out toward the bogy.  The bogy lost all concentration and a sound of fear escaped its own lips.

            The Ophir were camped in a secluded spot on the ridge across a wilderness valley where a running stream greened the fields.  The camp location was obviously chosen to minimize the presence of people and make the valley inviting to the wildlife.  The hunting would be good for some time, and there would be plenty to gather in that fertile place as well.  Eventually, the animals would grow wise and wary and the fertility of the place would run dry.  The stream itself might dry up in another season, but that would not be for a while.

              Boston picked a yellow flower by the stream.  She went to show Lockhart, but he hushed her.  He was being careful after the ambush.

            “Here!” Roland called and Lockhart breathed.  He was glad Captain Decker did not flush them out with a bullet.  “Just one man.  Probably a hunter.”

            “Where?”  Roland pointed and after a moment they saw the man climbing the far ridge with all speed.  Boston paused when she saw something else.  It looked like a medieval knight up on that ridge and it appeared to be staring down at them.  Boston turned to say something but her heart said that could not be right.  When she turned back to double check before speaking, the knight was gone.  She held her tongue.

            “I hope the natives are friendly.”  Lockhart shrugged and stole another glance behind them.  He was more concerned about what might be following them than what might be up ahead. 

            Lincoln and Alexis came up from downstream while Mingus and Lieutenant Harper reported from upstream.

            “All clear, Robert.”  Lieutenant Harper said.

            “Thank you, Katie,” Lockhart responded and he lead the team up the ridge.  There was a reception committee of elders by the time they arrived.  Curiously, the one young man in the group broke ranks and stepped down to them.

            “Boston.  Lockhart.  Good to see you all.”

            “Ranear?” Boston tested and the young man nodded.  “But didn’t you know we were coming?”  Ranear shook his head.

            “But Pan knew.”  Lieutenant Harper remembered.  She was trying to understand.

            Ranear shook his head again.  “A little Bluebell told him.  That fee used to get around.”

            “So what is the trouble?”  Lincoln asked as he got out his notebook.  He assumed they would land in the midst of some difficult situation.

            “None, I hope.  We set off tomorrow.”  Ranear turned to the patient elders.  “These are friends.  Do not be afraid.”

            “Angel said that,” Alexis reminded everyone.

            “It does come in handy,” Ranear whispered as one of the elderly men turned and addressed the others.

            “If the shaman speaks on behalf of these people, we will welcome them.  Make preparations.”  The men wandered off and the travelers came into the village.

            “Uzen.  He is the high chief.”  Ranear introduced the old man just before a young woman tackled him.  Ranear landed on his back and she landed on top of him.  She kissed him, heartily and then scolded him. 

            “Don’t I get to meet your friends?”

            “My wife, Azilla.”  Ranear introduced the young woman and then he introduced his friends. 

            Azilla looked at Lieutenant Harper.  “You are very white, with yellow hair.  And Boston, you are even whiter and you have freckles.”  Ranear, Azilla and their people were dark Mediterranean.  “And Captian Decker, you look like a Hivite, but you are not.  The Hivites don’t wear fairy weave.  I don’t know how I know that.  And Mingus, you are an elf.  I know that too, somehow.  You are an elder elf.”

            “Yes, Mam.”  Mingus had his hat in his hand.

            “Hello, Roland the elf.  You are Mingus’ son.  I don’t know how I know that, either.  And you,” she turned to Doctor Procter and paused as if studying the man.  “You have more beard than face, and you wear covers over your hands.  Are you in there?”

            “Yes.  They are gloves” Doctor Procter raised his hands and spoke softly.  “I am trying to protect myself as well as I can.  This old body of mine bruises very easily.”  That was what he told the others.

            “But you are an odd one.”  Azilla wrinkled her nose.  Ranear thought it was very becoming.  He tapped Azilla on the shoulder.

            “He is half human,” Boston said.

            “Half human, half elf,” Azilla said and her face brightened.  She tried to ignore Ranear so he had to cough for her attention.

            She looked at him sprawled out beneath her.  “How can I know these things?”

            “You are my beloved wife,” Ranear answered.  “Now, can I get up?”

            Azilla smiled.  “But I was just getting comfortable,” She said and shifted her position a little to lay more squarely on his chest.  He rolled her over with a kiss.

            One of the old men who had returned, sighed.  “My son.”

            “And they have been like this for two whole seasons,” a second man said.

            “Two whole seasons,” the third man echoed with a click of his tongue.

            “Come,” Ranear’s father spoke to the group.  “A place has been made for you near the circle.”

            The circle was the middle of the tent village where they would have neighbors on either side.  There was room for the travelers to pitch their tents near the wood they were piling in the center.  They would make a bonfire and have a feast after their fashion.  Lieutenant Harper was very interested in the proceedings since she had never been to a late Neolithic feast before.  Lincoln had his notebook out.  Everyone was ready when Mingus made his offer.

            “Would my Lord like me to start the fire?”

            Ranear looked at the elder elf and smiled.  “No thank you, Lord Mingus.  Tomorrow we are going north to form a treaty with the Hivites.” 

            “The Hivites we came across did not seem very interested in peace,” Lockhart said with only a brief touch of his thigh.

            “We will make sacrifices for peace between us.  As shaman, I will have to participate in the ceremony.  I have been practicing to get ready.”

            “My husband is very powerful,” Azilla said.  She looked at Alexis.

            “My husband is good at other things,” Alexis smiled.

            “Alexis is the witch in our family,” Lincoln said, but he was busy writing in his journal so not really paying attention.

            “Really?”  Azilla’s eyes were wide with curiosity, but Ranear interrupted her question.

            “Watch.”  Ranear stretched his hands toward the fire and it was very different.  With Mingus, it was like magic.  He mumbled and sprinkled some dust on the logs and the fire appeared to rise up to meet the falling dust.  For Ranear, the fire came from his hands and reached the final distance to touch and catch the wood.  Ranear tired far more than Mingus from the effort, besides.  It was like the fire was in him in some way, like it was inside the bogy beast.  Now that it was depleted, it would need to be recharged.

            “That was very well done,” Mingus praised him.

            “That was the easy part,” Ranear responded.  “Poor Azilla now has to cook something edible.”

            “Not me alone.  Would you like to help?”  She asked Alexis no doubt wanting to hear all about her magic.  Alexis nodded, and Boston spoke up.

            “I can help.”  With a look at Captain Decker and then Lockhart, Katie Harper went with them as well.

            That night, the travelers were restless.  No one slept well except maybe Doctor Procter.  Whatever it was, it was still out there.  Fortunately, it seemed reluctant to get too close to the village.  But it was waiting.  That was how Boston described the feeling.

            In the morning, Ranear and his troop were ready to head north almost as quickly as the travelers who only had to tell their tents to compress and stick them in their backpacks.

            “You are headed to the south,” Ranear spoke and Doctor Procter nodded.  “Of course, I can’t be certain, but I suspect you will find the gate somewhere near the mountain.  If that is the case, you should find where we often camp there.  If you do, climb the mountain a bit.  There is a path, and you will find a cave.  It is good for keeping out of the rain and sun and should be big enough to shelter you all for the night.”

            “Ranear and I spent our wedding night there,” Azilla said with the sound of fond memories in her voice.

            “Good luck to you in your mission,” Lockhart responded.

            “Mountain?”  Boston asked.

            “Sinai.”  Ranear and Mingus spoke together.

            “Mount Sinai.”  Lieutenant Harper whistled and watched Lincoln write in his notebook.

After 4447BC in the Sinai Peninsula.  Kairos: Ranear of the Ophir.

Recording…

            Lunch was quail that Boston and Roland flushed out and bagged.  People had been on edge the whole day, but they needed to eat.  They all mentioned the bokarus at one time or another that morning, but they all agreed that was not right.  Several times Roland, and once Captain Decker claimed they heard something, but found nothing.  Still, they all felt a sense of dread, like they were being followed by something inexplicable.

            “This quail is good.”  Lincoln attempted to lighten the mood

            “Tastes like chicken,” Captain Decker said flatly.  Lockhart was beginning to wonder if the man ever smiled.

            Lieutenant Harper frowned and looked around at the terrain.  It was rocky, but that would not account for the poor vegetation.  Boston said they were in the Sinai and as far as she knew it would not change much in the next six thousand plus years. The grass was poor, like it was overgrazed, the bushes were full of brambles and thorns – one day a real pain to shepherds – and  the trees, what there were of them, were short and spindly.  Still, the rocks were everywhere, sticking up from beneath the earth like fingers pointing at the sky.  She imagined there was not enough rain in the region to wear them down.  “Maybe in twelve thousand years,” She muttered.

            Lockhart stood and stretched and made his own attempt to lighten the mood.  “You know, it is remarkable being thirty again.  You cannot imagine the aches and pains that develop by the time you reach sixty.”

            “What was that?”  Mingus looked up, but he was not asking Lockhart to repeat himself.  Roland scooted up to spy from behind a rock,  They heard something.  Then they heard a word, “Ophir!” and three spears came shooting into their camp.  Two missed as people reacted, but Lockhart got one in the thigh and cursed,  He pulled himself up behind Roland’s rock even as the marines returned fire.

            A few moments later, Lincoln and Boston brought their pistols to bear and Roland fired Lockhart’s shotgun once when he saw some movement.  He would have been more accurate with his bow, but the arrow supply was limited and movement did not necessarily equal a person.  Captain Decker slipped out of the camp and very quickly the gunfire stopped.  There were no more spears and nothing to see among the bushes, trees and rocks within view.

            “I think we may have scared them off,” Lincoln suggested.

            “Primitive,” Lieutenant Harper examined one of the spears.  “I would say locally and human made.”  She felt funny having to add that last part, but given their experience thus far, and given their feelings all morning, it was necessary.

            “Sit still.” Alexis yelled at Lockhart.  “The spear is about to come out on its own but you don’t want to make the wound worse.”

            “It’s those Gaian healing chits still running through his body,” Lincoln suggested and Lockhart confirmed that with a nod.

            “The whole area is already numb.  I imagine I will be fine, shortly.”

            “The muscle is torn.  I would guess that will take longer than shortly to heal this wound.”

            “I don’t know,” Mingus started to add his opinion when Captain Decker came back escorting a native with a bullet crease in his own thigh.  The native, a young, dark skinned boy of maybe sixteen summers collapsed when he came into the camp and Alexis immediately turned her attention to him.

            The Captain gave his report.  “One dead, the others ran but this one couldn’t run.  You can stand down.”

            “You are Ophir?”  Boston asked because the Kairos was listed as being of the Ophir people, but it was sketchy on the details.

            “No, you are Ophir.”  His eyes got big as he watched Lockhart’s wound stop bleeding and then heal over like it was never there.  His eyes got even bigger when Alexis laid her hands over his own wound and he felt the warmth and healing power flow into his leg.  He looked up at Captain Decker.

            “You are Hivite, like me.  Why are you with these enemies?”  Decker said nothing and the boy looked again at Boston’s red hair and changed his mind.  “You are not Hivite and you are not Ophir.”

            “No, but the Ophir are our friends.”

            “Ahh!”  The boy suddenly put his face in his hands and shivered.  “I have fallen among the gods of the Ophir.  You kill with lightning and thunder and cannot be killed.  I will be meat.  I will be consumed.  Help me Set.”  He began to weep.  He was terribly afraid, and everyone saw that.

            “We won’t harm you,” Alexis assured him and smiled for him, but he pulled back from her hand which was meant to comfort him.  He shrieked again when Mingus came over to extract his daughter from the boy’s side and the boy got a good look at the elf.

            “One dead?”  Lockhart asked.  Decker nodded.  “Is he strong enough to carry his friend?”

            “I don’t know,” Alexis said honestly.  “His leg is fine.  The bullet only creased him.  It was not really much of a wound.  I would say it depends on how big his friend is and how far he has to go.”

            “We could help,” Boston suggested, but Lockhart shook his head. 

            “Direction?”  Lockhart turned to Doctor Procter and the doctor pointed.  Decker pointed the opposite way to say which way the others ran off.  “No.”  Lockhart said, and he knelt to the boy.  “Get up,” he insisted and they both stood.  “Take your dead.  There is no help we can give him.”  Then he added something the Kairos often said.  “Go in peace.” 

            The boy backed out of the camp.  The tears never entirely left his eyes, but when he realized he was going to live, they noticed the change.  Now he was crying for his dead friend.  They watched as he retrieved the body, scant yards from their camp.  It was hard, but he managed the young man around his shoulders like he might carry a deer and he soon disappeared in the wilderness.

            “Maybe the others are not so far away,” Lieutenant Harper suggested.  People nodded.  They liked to think that as they packed their things.  No one said they already had enough to worry about what with the bokarus, the ghouls and a missing bogy man.  Worry about the locals, about getting caught up in some war or trouble was not something they were prepared for, yet.

            “That was not what has been following us,” Lincoln said.  They all knew it was true and it did not help.

            “This way,” Doctor Procter said.  They followed him.  Lockhart only limped a little.

            The bogy beast was a small one.  It was only about sixteen feet when it stood on its hind legs which it did as soon as it reached the first hut.  It had to be on all fours to walk.  The hair of the beast turned out to be more like shredded steel than hair.  It was sharper than a porcupine and able to reject every bullet short of a direct hit.  The snout was more like a wolf than a bear and it had some extra teeth.  It was impossible to tell if it was a reptile or a mammal, but it was easy to see what it had in mind.  The hut was torn to shreds and then it nosed around in the wreckage for any tasty morsels it might find.  When it found nothing, flames came with a roar and crisped the remains of the hut.

            “Fire!”  Lockhart yelled and gunfire burst out from every corner.  The beast was surrounded except for the avenue by which it arrived.  Several bullets penetrated and the beast roared and turned.  It reared up in the midst of the withering fire and swiped at the air with its great caws as if trying to tear the bullets from the air.

            It roared again and spread fire in a circle around its body.  The gunfire paused while people ducked behind their cover.  Then the gunfire started again, but overall it had minimal effect until Lieutenant Harper had the idea of going for the eyes.  She paused, but only long enough to clip her scope to the rifle.  When she fired, she certainly struck something.  The beast reared its head back, roared and shot a stream of flame straight into the sky.

            With a final roar of protest, the beast returned to all fours, turned and galloped out of the village.  It ran very close to Boston who wisely crouched down in the shadows and tried to become as invisible as possible.  Then it was gone.

            The people came pouring from their hiding places around the village and began to celebrate, but Lockhart knew better.  “It is wounded now and that will make it more dangerous.” 

            “We must track it while we can,” Roland said.

             “Unfortunately,” Mingus agreed,  “And I will be here when you get back.”

            “Won’t that be dangerous?”  Alexis asked.

            “Yes,” Lincoln said.  “That is why you need to stay here with Boston, your father and Doctor Procter.”  She kissed him, but Boston heard.

            “Heck no,” she said.  “I’m going.  I’m good on a hunt.  Probably better than you.”

            “Lieutenant, you stay in case the beast doubles back,” Captain Decker commanded.

            “Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Harper was quicker with the sir this time, but it was clear she was unhappy once again with the order.

            “Okay redneck,” Lockhart smiled at Boston when that was settled.  “You lead the way.”

            Boston grabbed Roland and together they started out front.  It was actually an easy trail.  The purple puss that served for blood in the beast glowed a little, like neon.  It was probably fire inspired.  When they reached the edge of the woods, the broken branches and crushed saplings made the trail even easier.

            “I don’t like this,” Boston whispered.  She looked back.  Lockhart and Lincoln were alert and trying to listen for what they could not see in the dark.  Captain Decker had his night goggles on, but it was hard to see behind a tree.  “This trail is too easy.”

            Roland paused and looked at her.  He knelt and she knelt beside him as the company came to a halt.  “A bogy beast is clever, but like a fox, not a person,” he assured her before he turned to the group and spoke a bit louder.  “It stopped here and I would guess it licked its wounds.  The thing is, if it makes it until morning, it will rest underground and be all but healed in a day.”

            “So we have to find it before it rests,” Lockhart said even as the beast reared up in front of them.  One roar of fire and a backwards swipe of a claw caught  all three who were standing there.  Captain Decker was knocked to the ground while Lincoln and Lockhart crashed into the trees.  All were temporarily knocked senseless.  The beast looked down on the two still kneeling on the ground and roared fire again.  Roland quickly hovered over Boston.

            “I set a shield,” Roland shouted next to Boston’s ear.  They still felt the heat and Roland’s back turned red, but the fire was deflected.  All the same, Boston screamed.  It was answered by a white light in the distance that raced toward them. 

            The bogy beast reared up, determined to let its claws do what the flame failed to do, but it also saw the streaking light and certainly sensed something.  It began to turn away and let out a very different sound as the unicorn leapt over Roland and Boston and drove its horn deep into the beast’s chest.  The beast let out a chilling noise as it clawed the unicorn and knocked it away.  Then it stumbled as its putrid, flaming purple insides came pouring out of the gaping hole. 

            Decker was up by then and they began to blast away at the hole.  The beast collapsed.  It kept up that unnerving sound of pain and surprise until its body quit wiggling.  Captain Decker shot out the eye Harper had missed as his way of making sure the beast was dead.

            “My guess is the bogy could not see the unicorn out of the eye Lieutenant Harper shot until it was too late,” Roland surmised.

            Lockhart came up limping and leaning on Lincoln, but he waved them off.  He would be fine, shortly.  Meanwhile, Boston had run to the unicorn.  It was injured, terribly.

            Keng chose that moment to come running up.  “I missed it?  I missed everything!”  He was not happy, but the others smiled at the young man.

            “Glen!  Please help me.”  Boston called.

            “I – I can’t,” Keng said.

            Then someone else showed up.  She glowed in the night and Roland immediately fell to his knees.  It took the others a bit longer to feel the awesome fear of this person.  Then they joined the elf on their knees.  It was not quite like the angel, but something in that direction.

            “I go away for a few days and the whole place falls apart,” the woman complained. 

            Keng, of course, kept to his feet, and the woman gave him a curious look before she did something to tone down her glow.  “Who are these people?”  She asked Keng.

            “These are friends of mine,” Keng said proudly, and to the woman’s stare he added, “What?  I can have friends.”  The woman said nothing, so Keng introduced the five who were there.  “They have fallen back in time, but they are trying to get home.  You could maybe help them.”  He was not exactly asking.

            The woman stepped up to Lockhart and looked down into the man’s eyes.  Lockhart had to look away before she spoke again.  “Three days is the most even the gods are permitted to bend time.  It will not help these.”

            “Yes, of course.  I knew that,” Keng said.  “Oh, yes, this is Nagi.  She is the goddess of my village.”  He remembered himself then and went to his knees, but Nagi just made a face before she smiled.

            “A bit late for that,” she said and stepped in close for a look at the bogy beast.  Then she stepped up to stand behind Boston who was wracked with tears and crying all over the unicorn.  “A gift for defending my village,” she said and waved her hand.  The unicorn was made whole, and as it stood, Boston’s tears turned from sorrow to joy.  “The bogy does not belong here and neither does this creature.  There are no unicorns in this part of the world at present so you must take your pet with you when you leave.”  Boston simply nodded as the goddess turned her back and returned to the others.  The unicorn bowed to the goddess in the way of horses.  It touched its horn to the earth before it turned and bounded off into the woods.

            The goddess did not seem concerned with that as she stepped up to Keng and made him stand once again.  She walked once around him like a person might examine a prize animal.  She began to glow again, but in a different sort of way.  Every male eye became fastened to her like they were glued to her as she spoke her conclusion.  “I think I could have use for this one.”  She smiled at her own thoughts.  “Yes, I will,” she said and vanished.

            When they returned to the village and reported their success – without mentioning the goddess on Keng’s insistence, Mingus put a damper on their celebration.

            “But that means the bogy man is still out there, somewhere, and he is not going to be happy.”

            “We will burn that bridge when we come to it,” Captain Decker suggested.

            “Meanwhile, get some sleep,” Lockhart ordered.

            “I vote we stay here a couple of days to heal and help these people rebuild,” Alexis said as she laid hands on her brother to heal his scorched back.

            “I think the goddess would rather see us move on in the morning,” Lincoln responded, and he told her, Mingus and Doctor Procter of their encounter. 

            Doctor Procter appeared thoughtful.  “Perhaps we should move on tonight.”

            Lockhart did not answer the man directly.  All he said was “Get some rest.”

            The travelers arrived at what looked to them like the first real village they had seen.  Instead of tents, there were makeshift dwellings built of bamboo and grasses.  They were crude to be sure, and easily taken down, but solid enough.  They were also easily burned from the look of some of them.

            “Strangers.  Strangers!”  One man saw them, yelled in panic and ran off.  A few women screamed and ran into their huts.  Lockhart halted their progress somewhere near the middle of the village, a village deserted by the time they stopped.

            “Nothing like a first class welcome,” he said.

            “Why are they afraid of us?”  Boston wondered out loud.

            “They are certainly afraid of something,” Roland added.

            “Some people are just afraid of anything they don’t understand,” Lincoln suggested and Lieutenant Harper stepped up to agree, but Mingus spoke first.

            “No, they are just rabbits.  Scared rabbits.  So, son-in-law, welcome home.”

            “Father!”  Alexis objected, but Lincoln just ignored the elf.

            Six elderly men appeared at the end of the row of houses.  They did not look too brave themselves.  They came forward in a group where they might not have come by themselves.  The eldest spoke when they were near.  “Are you of the goddess or of the beast?”

            “Neither,” Lockhart spoke plainly enough.  “We are travelers and seek only shelter for the night.  We will move on tomorrow.”

            The men turned to each other and began a whispered argument.

            “Tell me about the goddess,” Lieutenant Harper butted in and the men paused so the eldest could speak again.

            “Nagi-di is the goddess of our village.  Some say she has sent the beast because she is angry with us.  Others say the beast was sent by a jealous, rival god.  We have prayed everyday and made offerings to the goddess for her help, but we do not know if she has abandoned us.  Please, are you the help or have you come to kill all the beast has not destroyed?”

            “We are here to help,” Alexis spoke up and Lockhart turned on her.

            “What is it with you and Boston?  You are not permitted to offer bread or help or anything else that commits this group in any way without asking permission.  Is that clear?”  He was not happy.

             Alexis dropped her eyes but said nothing as Mingus stepped forward with a question.  “What kind of beast?”

            The men took one look at Mingus and took a big step back, but to their credit they did not turn and run.  They simply appeared afraid to answer.  A boy came around the corner and pushed right passed the men.  He was a young man of about fifteen and one of the men yelled at him.

            “Keng!”

            But Keng ignored the man and ran right up to Boston and gave her a big hug.  “You guys got here just in time,” Keng said.  He let go of Boston and turned toward Mingus.  “It’s a bogy beast,” he said.  “I was beginning to think it would be the end for us all, but here you are.”

            “But if the beast is the end of the story, we might mess things up if we help.”  Lincoln was concerned about changing time.

            “Maybe,” Keng admitted.  “But I don’t think it is supposed to be here.  I haven’t seen its master, but you know they are never far away.”

            “Master?”  Lockhart asked.

            Keng looked at the man and paused before he smiled.  “Not the masters, like that.  I mean the bogy man.”

            “What is a bogy beast?”  Captain Decker wanted to know.

            “A bogy man’s dog,” Mingus answered.

            “A lesser spirit, up to twenty feet tall or long with razor sharp claws and teeth and it breathes fire.  Nearly impossible to kill, the database says.  It does look sort of like a bear.”  Boston added the last for Lieutenant Harper.

            “Definitely not good,” Mingus added under his breath.

            “So, you will stay and help?”  Keng asked.  He looked up at Lockhart again and Lockhart reluctantly nodded.

            “But my first duty is to get this crew home,” he said.  “If it becomes impossible, we are out of here.”

            “Understood.”  Keng turned to the men.  “They will stay and help, but we need to treat them well while they are here.”

            The man who yelled at Keng stepped free of the group and slapped Keng in the ear, hard.  “You have no business telling your elders what to do.”   He immediately turned to the travelers.  “You are welcome here, and Nagi’s blessing be upon you.”

            “Come out, come out.”  Other men yelled.  “They are sent by the goddess and are here to help.”

            Alexis stepped up to Keng to make sure that he was alright.  Boston moved up, too, but her lips were moving.  “Come out, come out wherever you are and meet the young lady who fell from a star.”

            Keng had a hand on his ear, but he smiled on hearing that.

            The travelers set up camp in the middle of the village.  The people brought some of their food, but did not stand around to stare.  They especially avoided the elves and some, no doubt, felt the elves were as dangerous as the beast.  One of the elder men commented on this.

            “How is it that the spirits of the earth do your bidding?  Are they safe?”

            “We have a common goal,” Lockhart said with a sideways look at Mingus.  “And no, they are not safe, but they will help.”

            “But you have them so well trained,” another man commented.  Roland had to step in front of his father to prevent an incident.

            “So tell me, do we have to hunt the beast?”

            The two elders looked at each other, surprised at being asked such a question.  “Why, no,” one finally said.  “It has come to the village twice in the night.

            “Though it did not come last night,” the other said, thoughtfully.

            “Yes, something must have distracted it,” the first concluded.

            “Us,” Lockhart said.  “Only a ghoul got in the way.”

            It was not long after that they heard the not too distant roar.

            Boston and Katie Harper had the last watch in the night.  They sat side by side as the sun readied to come up and talked about their lives and loves.

            “I’m a good Catholic girl,” Boston insisted.  “I finished High School when I was sixteen and went to Saint Elizabeth’s, an all girls college.  I finished there in three years and went straight on to graduate school where I studied.  I mean, I went to parties and all, but electrical engineering takes real work.  I didn’t have time for much dating, and then I got drafted by the Men in Black and just sort of ended up pushing Lockhart around in that wheelchair for the next two years.  That’s all, really.”

            Katie Harper looked back toward the camp.  “Yes, it is hard to remember him as an old man.”

            Boston nodded.  “Him and Lincoln and Alexis who I never met before now.  They were all old.”

            “I understand,” Katie said as she looked again around the perimeter.  “Given the environment, it was a good thing the Kairos was able to make them young again.  A bunch of old people and a cripple would never have been able to keep up.”

            “Glen,” Boston responded.  “He likes to be called by name.  Kairos is too formal, more like a title.”

            “God of event time.”

            “That’s right.”  Boston smiled.  “The Watcher over History, he calls it.”  She looked at the lieutenant and Katie got the impression that it was her turn.

            “I did my graduate work in human cultural studies, specifically the technologies of early cultures.  I have a strong background in modern technology as well, though not exactly an engineering degree.  Still, I am sure that is why Colonel Weber chose me for this assignment.”

            “No doubt,” Boston said before she jumped.  Something roared in the distance.  It was out of sight, down the hill and hidden by the trees, but it was loud enough to wake the camp.  Lieutenant Harper stood with her weapon ready.  Boston had her Beretta, but stayed seated where she was.

            “Bears?”  Katie asked.  She knew it was no lion or tiger sound.

            Boston shook her head.  “I hunted bears in Canada.  That was no bear.”

            The roar came again along with another sound.  It was a squeal that dropped to a low roar of its own.  The trees swayed.  They heard at least one crash to the ground.  Then they heard a whine and something like thunder.  And then there was silence.  There was smoke among the trees, just visible in the dim light before dawn and the women thought the trees might be on fire, but they saw no light from flames.

            “Are you alright?”  That was Lockhart’s first concern when he arrived, Captain Decker beside him.  The women nodded.  “We wait until the light is better before we investigate,”  he decided, and Mingus, Roland and Captain Decker saw the wisdom in that.

            Back in camp, they made what breakfast they could out of the leftover deer and greens and then Lincoln distracted them all by suggesting they pack the camp and be prepared to move out quickly, just in case.  The way he phrased it, the others could hardly argue.

            The sun was well up by the time Lockhart, Mingus, Roland, Captain Decker and Boston made for the faint wisps of smoke that still trailed into the sky.  Lieutenant Harper wanted to go with them, but Captain Decker ordered her to stay and defend the camp.

            “Yes, sir,” Katie responded, but she did not sound too happy about it.

            Boston started out front.  She thought for a second that only she could pinpoint the location, but then she saw the smoke and remembered the roar and slipped back to a safer place between Lockhart and Roland.  They had to separate a little when they got to the trees at the bottom of the hill.  Boston immediately came across a great, old tree that was torn up by the roots.  Lockhart pointed out several smaller, young trees that were broken and crushed to the ground like they had been stepped on. 

            “This is not good,” Mingus said.  He examined the trees and bushes that were burnt and singed.  Some of the trees were still smoking, though none were outright burning.

            “Over here,” Roland called.

            They found the ghoul sitting with his back to a tree, dying.  He was bleeding, Boston guessed, though it looked more like slimy green sauce than blood.  The ghoul looked up at them and made a sound that could only have been laughter.  Boston felt the hair rise on the back of her neck at that sound. 

            “This is definitely not good,” Mingus said.

            “Your unicorn?”  Captain Decker asked, but Boston shook her head.  That was no unicorn sound she heard in the night.

            The ghoul looked up at the Captain and laughed at the word unicorn.  The Captain responded by shooting the ghoul.  It deflated and compressed and left a green smudge on the dirt while the Captain spoke.

            “Mercy killing.”

            “We might have gotten some information.”  Lockhart scolded the man.  Mingus mitigated.

            “No, we wouldn’t.”

            They started back up the hill to the camp when there was another roar in the distance.  Fortunately it was some distance away.

            “I hope that’s a dragon,” Roland spoke softly and Boston looked at the man like he must be crazy.

            “A dragon spirit would be better,” Mingus heard his son with his good elf ears and responded.

            “And if it is not?”  Lockhart asked.

            “Definitely not good.”  Mingus said it again.

After 4465BC.  in Southern China.  Kairos:  Keng

Recording…

            Boston checked the database and read the results out loud.  She concluded with her finger on the map and a note that they appeared to be somewhere between the Yangtze River and the southern mountains.

            “How many time zones do we have to go through to get back to our own time?”  Lieutenant Harper asked from the rear where she and Captain Decker continued to act as rear guard.

            “One hundred and twenty,” Boston answered from where she was straggling at the back of the pack.  “Glen is the one hundred and twenty-first lifetime of the Kairos.”

            “It won’t be anytime soon,” Alexis looked back.

            The land was a mix of forest and meadow with much steeper hills than the Sahara.  When they came to the top of one of those hills, a place where there were rocks sticking out through the soil, Lockhart called a halt.  It would be dark soon, and they needed the rest.

            “As good a place as any,” Lincoln sighed.

            “Yeah,” Captain Decker added.  “Something is bound to catch up to us no matter what we do and this is as defensible a position as any.”

            “Chinese deer,” Roland announced and he got out his bow and jogged back down the hill.

            “And some greens,” Alexis said as she dragged Boston and Lieutenant Harper off to gather.  “I was never a big fan of Atkins.”

            “Some rice would be nice,” Boston thought out loud.  “Too bad we don’t have a wok.”

            Once Alexis showed the others what to look for, they gathered as the sun sank in the west.  They saw plenty of deer, and Boston was sure Roland was already back at the camp and had cut the beast for the fire.  She stepped around a few trees and caught sight of a light in the forest.  It was not too far away so curiosity drove her to take a closer look.

            There was an opening among the trees and sweet grass and flowers in that little place.  There was a bubbling spring, and a creature that positively glowed a brilliant white against the growing shadows.  Boston put her hands together in delight, but she dared not say a thing, not even to call to the others for fear of frightening off the beast.  Thus she simply watched, enthralled as the sun sank lower in the sky.

            “Unicorn.”  Roland came up beside her and whispered.  Alexis and Katie Harper were with him. 

            “But no bones have ever been found of such a creature,” Katie protested.  “I thought such things did not exist.”

            “It isn’t a creature,” Alexis said.  “It is a spirit, a greater spirit of purity and virtue, though it behaves much like a creature.  There are a few still in our day on Avalon.  Certain elf maids pledge themselves to their feeding and protection and do not marry or have relations with men until they retire at age one hundred.”

            “You met Mirowen back at the Headquarters building,” Boston whispered.  “She was a unicorn maid before she met Doctor Roberts.”

            “She lost her unicorn on earth and it was captured.  Doctor Roberts helped her retrieve it from area 51,” Alexis added.  “I imagined you knew that since you and Captain Decker are stationed there.”

            Lieutenant Harper shook her head.  “The whole complex at area 51 is strictly on a need to know basis,” she said.  “Colonel Weber,” she added by way of explanation.

            They watched while the unicorn went to the spring for a drink.  “Unicorns can be injured and even killed when they inhabit this form,” Alexis continued with the information.  “But they are very powerful creatures, much more powerful than the form implies.”

            “If it chose to charge, we would not escape,” Roland added.

            “And it knows full well we are here,” Alexis said.  “But I don’t get it. They usually are not seen unless there is an innocent in need of protection.”

            “Hey.” Roland reached out, but it was too late.  Boston had stepped out on to the meadow.

            “Unicorns are dangerous.”  Alexis spoke quickly.

            “You said it knows we are here,” Boston responded softly.

            “Boston,” Roland raised his voice a little.  “Don’t you dare.”  He turned on Lieutenant Harper because she raised her weapon to the ready.

            “You have to be a virgin.”  Alexis whispered very loud.  Boston paused, turned to look back at them in the bushes and then turned again to continue toward the unicorn.  The unicorn raised its head and began to nod, but it made no hostile moves in Boston’s direction.  When she arrived, the beast turned its horn away from the girl as Boston reached out carefully to touch the unicorn’s neck.  She felt a moment of electric shock when she touched before she was drawn to do what was in her heart.  She put her arms gently around the unicorn’s neck and kissed it right behind the ear.  It was something she dreamed about.

            The unicorn nodded again and broke free, gently.  With one more nod, it turned and bounded into the bushes to be lost in the coming night.  The light it emitted vanished with the beast, and Boston remained to cry gentle tears of joy.

            When the others joined her in the meadow, Boston turned to Alexis.  “You don’t mind?  It was something I just had to do.”

            “It called to you,” Alexis smiled.  “I don’t mind at all.”  She punched her grinning brother in the stomach before they escorted Boston back to the camp. 

            “Boston visited with it,” Alexis said in a cryptic way.  She said nothing about the virgin qualification.  She imagined Lincoln understood and Lockhart may have guessed.  She assumed Captain Decker had no idea, and Alexis was not going to spell it out for him.

            “A unicorn.”  Mingus understood right away.  “Then we may have help guarding the camp against the creatures following us.”

            “I see no good in it,” Doctor Procter said, and he looked morose.

            “We still set a good watch,” Lockhart insisted.  “And if you think you hear or see something, make sure everyone is awake before you go to investigate.”

            That night, when everyone else was worried about defending the camp from ghouls and the bokarus, Boston dreamed about riding on the back of a unicorn.

            “Did you hear that?”  The man picked up his spear

            “Hear what?”  The other man squinted into the dark beyond the wood.  “A predator of some kind?”

            “No.  Hush.”  The first man crawled slowly over the wood, crouched down low and began to inch forward.

            “Oleon.  Wait, shouldn’t we wake the strangers?”

            “No.  It may be nothing.  Just wait here.”

            The second man waited and waited.  He was about to go for help when he heard the rustle of the grass in front of him.  “Oleon, is that you?”  The man whispered before he saw the ghoul rise up right in front of him.  He barely had time to grab his spear and thrust.  He caught the ghoul dead center even as he looked down and saw a spear thrust into his own chest.

            The sun rose hot, but by that time most of the tents and things the people would carry were already packed and ready to go.  They found the two dead men at first light.  It was not hard to piece together what happened. 

            “It is just the ghoul’s way of reminding us that he is still here, watching,” Mingus said.

            “I’d rather have my bokarus back,” Lincoln said.

            “I’d rather have him here than running back to warn the other ninety,” Captain Decker said.  “You did say a hundred.”

            Mingus nodded.  “And where there are a hundred, there is a chief who controls and directs the others.  They may not know exactly what we did, but you can be sure, whatever time zone they are in, they already know we are here.”

            “Cheery thought,” Lockhart said, and he looked over to where the girls had gathered.  Iris was there, and Hespah had warmed up to Katie, Boston and Alexis.  Iris was speaking.

            “Hespah said I can keep mother’s comb.  Isn’t it beautiful?”  She held up the comb, white and clean.

            “Ivory,” Katie identified it.

            “Yes, it is beautiful,” Boston confirmed.

            “Now you will always have your mother with you,” Alexis said, and she reached for Hespah’s hand which the girl willingly gave.  “Both of you.  And you will always have each other.”  Alexis smiled.

            Iris was ten and still a girl.  Hespah was thirteen but had the look of a young woman.  But when the two hugged and a few more tears fell, the others remarked how much they looked alike.

            “I don’t understand how she can look so much like her sister,” Boston wondered.

            “Because she is her sister,”  Alexis responded.  “I mean Hespah is her sister.  But what I don’t understand is why she doesn’t look more like Amri, or Pan for that matter.”

            Katie raised her hand.  “I understand that much.  Outward appearance is a very small portion of a person’s genetic makeup.  I suppose she will always look different, especially when she is a he which is the part I still don’t really get.”

            “Won’t always look different,” Alexis said.  “There are the reflections.”

            Katie looked at Alexis with curiosity etched all over her face, but she said nothing because Iris and Hespah were finished crying for the moment.

            The people, with the help of the travelers, piled all of the remaining firewood on the bodies and set them on fire.  Then the people headed North while the Travelers headed south.

            “We will go to Neamon’s village by the sea and seek to live among them,” Atonis said.

            “I am sure everything will work out well,” Lockhart said and shook the man’s hand.  He paused, then, because Iris was tugging on his sleeve.  “Yes Iris?”

            “The gate should come up quick since we will be moving in opposite directions.”  Iris said it and turned her back immediately to stand beside Hespah and take her hand.

            It was an hour before anyone spoke.  A mass grave will do that.

            “We are making excellent time.”  Doctor Procter looked at his amulet.

            “Shut up.”  Captain Decker was rude and people stopped to look at the man.  “Something in the bushes following us.”

            “Can’t be the ghoul.  They are creatures of the night,” Roland said.

            “They are not bound to the night,” Mingus countered.

            “Ahh!”  Lieutenant Harper was startled and Captain Decker fired his weapon.  The ghoul was there, but also in three other places.

            “What are you firing at?”  Lockhart yelled.

            “Close your eyes,” Mingus commanded.  “The ghoul has your eyes.”  Lieutenant Harper did not hesitate, but Captain Decker took a second before he closed his.  They heard the ghoul let out a sound of frustration, and Doctor Procter took several steps in that direction. 

            “No!”  The doctor shouted at the creature.  “You cannot have them.”  With that, they all saw it just ahead, but it was only a glimpse.  The thing made another sound.  It sounded hesitant and uncertain before it melted right down into the solid ground.

            “It has gone underground,” Mingus said.  “It will rest.  Quick, now is our chance to put some distance between us.”

            “Could we dig it up?”  Captain Decker asked as he opened his eyes.

            Mingus shook his head.  “They are insubstantial underground.  There is no way we could hurt it.”

            “Too bad,” Lockhart said as they made for the gate.  “And I noticed it went first for the marines, so they are not just dumb beasts following instinct.”

            “Neither is the bokarus which I assume is still on our trail,” Lincoln said, and Alexis took his arm.  He worried too much, but at least this time there were things to worry about.

            “It was a good thing the bokarus left you alone after that.”  Boston had a good imagination and could not get the image of the horribly burned man out of her mind.

            “It was my daughter,” Atonis said softly.  “Not Hespah, but my little one, Iris.  She was only seven.  She stood up in the face of that great wind and yelled as loud as her little lungs could yell.  “Bokarus!”  That is how we know the name.  “No!  Go away!  You do not belong here!”  The spirit had just thrown Mumbai into the fire and it stopped to face my daughter.  I was very afraid for her, but then Iris reached for the ghost and it raced away before she could touch it.  It never came back, until now.

            Boston said no more so Atonis said no more.  But Boston did take Lockhart’s arm the way Alexis held Lincoln’s arm, and Lockhart did not push her away.

            The sun went down while the moon came up bright in the sky, though it looked to be a waning moon.  From a distance, the camp appeared to be a well ordered community with a half-dozen tent-like structures in a circle around a central fire.  It was up on the highest hill in the middle of nowhere.  The nearest little woods were some distance, but there appeared to be plenty of deadwood stacked around the camp like a barrier against the wild.

            Captain Decker and Lieutenant Harper got out their night vision binoculars and passed them around.  They had to get close to the camp before they heard the shouting and screaming.  They started to run when two dark but human looking figures rose up before them.  They paused, but Captain Decker had put on his night goggles and he opened fire without waiting for the order.  Both figures fell.

            Roland touched Lockhart’s shoulder before Lockhart could yell.  He got all their feet moving with one word.  “Ghouls.”

            Alexis got out the wand she had been working on and managed a light, like a golden spotlight on their path to the camp.  It helped, until a darkness responded.  It came out from the camp, put out the light that it followed like a dog might follow a trail and with a snap it knocked Alexis back on her rump.

            Captain Decker fired in the direction from which the darkness came, and this time Lockhart yelled.  “Decker.  There are people here!”

            They pushed through the firewood that circled the camp and broke into the center space by the fire.  Men had spears and women threw stones, but the ghouls did not appear to be bothered by it all.  Captain Decker, Lieutenant Harper and Lincoln all opened fire as soon as they had a clear shot.  Three ghouls went down.  Another was mauled by Lockhart’s shotgun, and if not yet dead, it soon would be.

            Mingus appeared to be counting, but came alert as a ghoul grabbed Boston by the back of her collar.  He sent a fireball into the Ghoul’s face which made it let go.  Boston fell and spun and unloaded six bullets into the creature’s chest. 

            Lieutenant Harper and Alexis were already checking the men, women and children who appeared to be dead.  Captain Decker with his night goggles caught another attempting to flee the camp.  Then Lincoln heard a scream from one of the tents.  Girls were screaming and it sounded like Atonis responded “Aaii-ii”

            Lincoln ran and arrived at the same time as Atonis.  They saw a ghoul with a woman in one hand.  She was limp and lifted completely off the ground, and the ghoul tossed her away like so much dead meat.  There were two young girls in the corner, screaming and scared senseless.  That was about all Lincoln could see in the second he had to glimpse the action.  He opened fire and did not stop firing until the ghoul was laid out flat. 

            Lincoln watched Atonis run to his children.  The ghoul, one of the big ones at about eight feet in height, shriveled up like a beach ball with an air leak.  It began to compress until it was no bigger than a hand, and then it melted into the soil and left only a sickly green smudge where it had been.

            “Alexis.  Lockhart.”  Lincoln called, and they came to the door.  Lockhart helped Atonis carry his dead wife out into the open where she was put with the others.  Alexis and Lincoln brought the children who looked like they might never stop crying.  As they walked past, Lockhart heard Mingus utter two words:  “only nine.”

            The survivors slept outside by the fire that night to be near their loved ones one last time.  There was never a moment in the night when crying could not be heard.  The travelers stayed with them out in the open and left their tents packed away.  Over supper,  Boston read from her database for any who cared to listen.

            “Ghouls, a type of lesser spirit of the family of Djin.  They feed off the fear and terror they induce in their victims and in the end suck out the life force.  It is said, where there is one, there are ten and where there are ten, there are a hundred.”  She looked up at Roland before she turned her eyes to Lockhart.  “So there may be more of them out there.”

            “I think maybe one more,” Mingus said.  “I think these are the ten who followed us through a number of time zones before we lost them.”

            Alexis apologized.  “I’m sorry.  I did not think they came this far or I would have mentioned them.”  She looked at her father and wondered why he did not mention them either.

            “Probably still looking for you and your father,” Lincoln said.

            “The family of Djin?”  Lieutenant Harper interrupted.

            “Genies,” Roland and Boston spoke together.

            “Tell me about these ghouls,” Lockhart said and he looked at Mingus.

            “They can play with the mind,” Roland said  “They can make you see things that aren’t there.”

            “I may have mentioned that glamours are hard to cast on others,” Mingus spoke openly.  “It would be hard for Procter, Roland Alexis and I to make everyone here look African to blend in with the locals.  But Ghouls can easily cast illusions over others and over things to make you see and hear all sorts of things and literally frighten you to death.  We caught these by surprise and unprepared, but there is likely one still out there.”

            “So we need to set up a watch in the night,” Captain Decker concluded.

            “A single ghoul can only affect one or two minds at a time,” Mingus added.  “What do you think, Procter?”  He looked over, but Doctor Procter was sound asleep.  He did not appear to be adversely affected by all the death around him.  Mingus just shook his head.

            “We will help to watch in the night,” Atonis volunteered the survivors in the camp and Lockhart nodded while Alexis spoke.

            “You don’t mind?”

            Atonis looked back at his people.  Six had died, but there were eighteen survivors.  “We will not sleep well in any case,” he said and turned again to look at Alexis.  “And without your help we would all be dead.”

            Iris came up to Boston and knelt beside her.  Her older sister, Hespah kept back just a little, but Iris came right up close  “Boston?”  When Boston turned her head, Iris cried all over her.  What could Boston do but hold the young girl, pat her back and say, “hush” and comfort the girl.

            The travelers stayed where they were for the rest of that night.  It was hard for them to get back to sleep, but the high ground was a good defensive position and the trees were there to fall back into in case whatever scared the bokarus decided to show up.

            By morning, most of the herd had wandered off and everyone took a deep breath.  There were predators in the night that came to feast on the beasts they had to shoot, and even then they could see the vultures shredding the remains, but that was far enough away so as not to cause concern.

            Alexis was rinsing out her pot when she saw the man in the distance.  He stood straight and tall and held a spear that was half-again his height. 

            “What do you think he wants?”  Lincoln whispered to her.  Alexis shrugged and went back to her work.  They packed the camp and even as Doctor Procter checked the amulet, the distant man began to trot toward them.  Lockhart made them wait.

            The man was tall and dark skinned which caused Lincoln to comment.  “He looks more like a Massai warrior than a North African.”

            “No Phoenician, Roman, Visigoth or Arab blood in him yet,” Lieutenant Harper responded first.

            “Yes.  Very good,” Mingus praised her even as Captain Decker raised his gun to ready position.

            “Halloo.”  The man called when he was still distant.  “You were in the stampede.  I hope everyone is alright.”

            “Yes, thank you,” Lockhart shouted back as the man began to come up the rise.  He looked once at Captain Decker and his dark skin before he turned to the speaker.

            “You are from the land of the Great River?”  The man asked.

            “We are travelers,” Lockhart said.  “And you live in this land?”

            The man pointed and Lockhart saw that Doctor Procter confirmed that it was the right direction for them as well.  “But it is only our camp.  We are also travelers.  We follow after the herd.” 

            “My name is Lockhart,” he said and this time he forcibly took the man’s hand and shook it.  Then he introduced everyone around.  After the man got the idea, the man grinned and shook everyone’s hand except the elves.  He merely stared at them and Doctor Procter did not offer his hand.

            “I am Atonis,” he said at last.  “If you are traveling in my direction you must come and stay the night in my camp.  You will be safe there from the stampede and the beasts of the night.”

            Lockhart simply nodded, so Alexis spoke.  “Thank you.”

            “My camp is a whole day from here,” the man spoke again after they started to walk. 

            “Perhaps we can add some meat to your fire,” Boston tried to be cordial.

            “Along the way we will have to do lunch,” Lockhart told her.  “And you thought that expression just belonged to your generation.”  Lockhart looked back.  Mingus and Roland were on the flanks.  Decker and Harper were in rear guard position.  Lincoln and Alexis were in front of the marines and Lincoln was jotting something down in his notebook.  Boston was on his heels or beside him, and Doctor Procter was wandering aimlessly in the middle, not even looking at his amulet.

            “I must ask,” Atonis said after a while.  “I heard the wail of the spirit in the night.  I was not surprised to see the herd start to run.  But tell me, do you know what makes this sound?”

            “A bokarus,” Boston spoke right up.  “A green man.  It is a spirit of the wild.  It protects the wilderness and hates any human intrusion that interferes with the natural order of things.”

            “And it is following us,” Lockhart added and looked back at Doctor Procter, but this time the doctor made no objection.  More likely, the Doctor did not hear.

            “I have heard this once before,” Atonis said.  “This spirit is not a good thing.”  He said no more about it until lunch.  Roland brought in a gazelle after only a few minutes chase, and Mingus got a fire started.  Alexis made bread but that was the only thing that opened Atonis’ eyes.  Clearly he knew what the elves were and was not going to be surprised at anything they might do.

            It was a good lunch but they overstayed their time, first because Boston explained why they were traveling with two spirits of the earth, as Atonis called the elves; and then Atonis told the story of his first encounter with the bokarus.

            “It was three years ago and my friend Mumbai was to celebrate the marriage of his daughter to a good man.  He wanted to build a great celebration fire and so he had us gather all the wood in the little forest that we could find.  It was not enough for him, so he took a sharp stone and cut many young trees to add to the fire.  They did not burn well, being green, but Mumbai was determined that his daughter should have the biggest fire, ever.

            “As we celebrated, we were interrupted in the night by the wail of the angry spirit.  It flew like a bird in the sky around and around.  The wind became strong and people fell to their knees, afraid of the sound and the wind.  We were all afraid.  All at once, the wind picked Mumbai up off the ground and threw him into the heart of the great fire.  People screamed and the bokarus left us as we pulled my friend from the fire. 

            “His clothes were burned to him and could not be taken off him.  He had great swellings of white bubbles everywhere that burst and made him smell of cooked meat.  Much of his body was charred like the ash after the fire is done.  He was in great pain and in the morning he died.

            “Many said then that we should go to the village of Neamon and dwell there with the village people.  They said the grasslands were becoming too dangerous, but many said no.  We have lived well since then, but we have not forgotten.  And now that the bokarus is back, I do not know what we will do.”

            Everyone said they were sorry and Boston and Alexis hugged the man while he cried.  Lincoln handed him a handkerchief and got him to blow his nose.  It was already late when they started walking again.

            “It will be dark before we arrive,” Atonis said.  “But with this host of people, I expect no trouble.”  Lockhart and Lincoln both looked back and wondered if what scared off the bokarus might follow them after dark, but neither said a word.